Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley Tuesday proposed the county seek proposals for companies to operate the Beatty and Amargosa Valley clinics, blasting the existing provider, Nevada Rural Health Centers Inc., for hiking the fee 51 percent for 24-hour, on-call service. (See related story, page A8.)

Nevada Rural Health Centers, which operates clinics in numerous rural communities around the state from Amargosa Valley to Jackpot, said the departure of a physician in Beatty would mean the county's cost of maintaining on-call service for the two clinics would increase from $640,847 annually to $971,377.

The company also said the new contract would cost as much for regular 40-hour-per-week medical service as the former contract, which included the on-call service.

Eastley noted Nevada Rural Health Centers Inc. gets 39 percent of its funding from federal grants, 49 percent from patients and 9 percent from counties. Guidelines are strict on what the company is supposed to provide, she said.

"Why can't we take the same amount of funding we give these folks who are supposed to be providing these services to us as part of a huge grant program from the federal government and contract out for medical care in Amargosa Valley and Beatty? It would appear to me this particular contract would benefit from some competition," Eastley said.

Nye County Comptroller Pam Webster said there's time to go out for proposals since Nevada Rural Health Centers' contract with Nye County doesn't expire until June 30.

The county will solicit companies for proposals to operate the clinic only during regular business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, and to submit a proposal to include the cost of on-call, after-hours services.

"This is unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination. I attended a town meeting in Beatty Wednesday night. I think half the community showed up," Eastley said.

The commissioner found out Nevada Rural Health Centers Inc. has a board of directors comprising representatives of each community, but there's no director representing Amargosa Valley or Beatty.

Eastley volunteered to be the local representative, saying the people "need a watchdog" to keep an eye on the company, but she noted a former director from Beatty had to sign a confidentiality agreement.

"They are operating under federal grants, and that whole process should be transparent," Eastley said.

She suggested possibly a special county commission meeting to approve the request for proposals.

"That is another absolute obstruction to any economic development in those communities. When basic services start deteriorating, that's one of the first thing businesses look at when they want to come in," Eastley said. "I know Amargosa Valley is a half-hour from Pahrump; Beatty is a little over an hour from Pahrump. I don't care about that -- we want what we had before. We have an opportunity for some great things to happen in those communities."

The clinic buildings are provided by Nye County, which also pays a subsidy for electricity. Nevada Health Centers only pays for the telephone, another fact which upset the district two commissioner. Nye County also paid for some renovations to the Beatty clinic a year ago.